The Structure of Political Parties - voters The party...

The Structure of Political PartiesThe major political parties are organized at the local (usually county), state, and national levels. Party leaders and activists are involved in choosing people to run for office, managing and financing campaigns, and developing positions and policies that appeal to party constituents. The national party organizations play key roles in presidential elections. Local party organizationPolitical parties operate at the local level in municipal and county elections (though many cities choose officials — mayors and members of city council — through nonpartisan elections, in which candidates effectively run as independents without party affiliation). In partisan elections, the party is involved in identifying candidates, providing professional staff, and taking positions on issues of immediate concern to

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Unformatted text preview: voters. The party leadership recognizes that the interaction between party workers, candidates, and voters is important. In the late 19th century on through a good part of the 20th century, political machines flourished in several large cities; Tammany Hall in New York, Frank Hague in Jersey City, the Pendergast family in Kansas City, and Richard Daley in Chicago are examples. The political bosses, the mayors, and the party leaders used their control of patronage jobs to reward party loyalty and provide a broad range of social services. Reforms in the civil service and the growth of primary elections gradually brought an end to machine politics....
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